Allan Waters, who is both the commodore of the COA and a town councilor, said Thursday the committee was only asked to review three options: renewing the association’s lease, having the town take over administration of the property or having a third party administer it on behalf of the town.

However, Mayor Enzo Faienza emphatically rejected that claim in a telephone call Thursday evening. Faienza said the committee,which was chaired by Councilor Edward Wenners, was tasked to “find the highest and best use for the property.”

“There was no limit on the number of options the committee could consider,” he said. “Their charge was to look at as many options proposals as they could.”

Faienza said he hoped the committee would have sought a request for proposals and that as many as 50 options might have been presented to the council.

Waters made attendance at the hearing mandatory for members, adding that they would be given credit for attending the meeting.

The committee was scheduled to meet next during the second week of October to review the options. But Waters said Thursday he became concerned if the committee recommended the COA lease be renewed, the council might reject that proposal.

And so, he did not wait — indeed, “could not wait because time is essential” — for the committee to meet. “Let’s let the people decide,” Waters said.

Instead, he circulated the petition, which calls for a town meeting to set the date for a referendum to decide the issue. The petition was submitted to Town Clerk Joan Ahlquist on Tuesday.

Ahlquist said Thursday the petition contained 46 names. The requirement for calling a town meeting is 20 names, Ahlquist said.

With the submission of the petition, Faienza informed Wenners the committee’s work was being suspended.

The council will meet Friday afternoon to decide when and where to hold the town meeting. “It is so unfortunate, so discouraging the committee’s work has been put on hold,” because of the submission of the petition, Faienza said.

But beyond that, the mayor said, “Two River Road belongs to the taxpayers.

“The boat club has had the pleasure of using that property — at a very great rate for them — for a number of years,” Faienza said. “But that is town-owned land. It does not belong to any one group.”